December was a really productive month for the Indian OTT. We saw shows like Aarya 2, Aranyak, Inside Edge and movies like Minnal Murali, Atrangi Re, Maanaadu and a lot more.
Similarly, January was expected to be a month for big theatrical releases. RRR, Radhe Shyam, Bheemlanayak and a lot of other movies were scheduled for a theatrical release.
Unfortunately, all the hopes are now shattered as the rising cases of covid-19 in India are alarming. Quite naturally, the health of people should always be the primary concern and we can watch movies after everything is normal.
So in this period of semi-lockdown what serves us entertainment is only the streaming platforms.
We as cinephiles can’t help but enjoy movies/shows Netflix, Prime Video, Hotstar and more.
But what is interesting is the way we ignore Indian content in such a period. It is observed that whenever such a period of lockdown is imposed, we as an audience tend to prefer foreign shows and movies much more than Indian ones.
The best example for this can be Netflix’s German Sci-Fi “Dark” that saw immense popularity in the period of 2020’s lockdown.
Although series like Money Heist and Peaky Blinders were immensely popular, they became the talk of the town only after the lockdown period when a whole mass of audience buzzed towards them.
But why does this happen?
In India, foreign shows are not only meant for content but they are fancy too. But even if we ignore this fact, this is a slap in the face to the Indian industry.
In 2018, Sacred Games and Mirzapur firmly established the potential of OTT in India. It has been around four years but we are still not over that.
Netflix’s upcoming Yeh Kaali Kaali Ankhein is just another example of that.
Violent shows with abusive language are all Indian OTT platforms are about. No doubt there are great shows like “Tabbar” but due to poor marketing and whatever the reason may be, they simply fail to get mass attention.
But we can’t ignore the fact that Indian shows are not very acceptable to change and they try to follow a specific tried and tested formula.
So yes, these times of semi lockdown might just start another period of foreign content.
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